the evolution of whats happening on and in my head

One of my many many attempts at a style that went horribly wrong. Originally published on March 30, 2010, this post chronicles one of my many attempts at a style that went horribly wrong. Truth be told, I still have yet to revisit flat twists (because of this experience), but after re-reading this one, I’m more inspired to give it a whirl once again…on a weekend…when I don’t have to go into work….

Last week, all puffed up and jazzed about Operation Cornrow, I decided that my first step towards Cornrow-dom would be to try a set of flat-twists. Basically, flat twists are similar to a cornrow in that they “attach” to your head, but instead of using three strands to do a braid, you use two strands and do a twist that lays flat therefore creating a FLAT TWIST.

Went home and before going to bed, set out on flat twisting my hair. I was able to get in seven flat twists. I have to say that doing the one on the direct back of my head was really difficult, but I found that the trick was not to look in the mirror while doing it because the opposite side/reflection thing kept messing me up.

When all was said and done. I thought they looked pretty good.

Went to bed. Went to work. Went to the bathroom to change out of my bike clothes and untwist.

My hair definitely looked like it had been twisted. Unfortunately, it looked like that twisting had been done by a tornado or something. But I decided to put in some bobby pins and a flower clip and just rock it.

As I walked into my office, I stopped by my coworker/friend/third eye Fidel’s desk and say good morning. Instead of returning the morning salutation, he looked at me wide-eyed and exclaimed “GIIIIIIIIIRL! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR!?!?!?!?!?” I casually explained the flat twists and how it was supposed to look and that I was learning yada yada yada. ”Well maybe you should stop trying to learn on week days…”, he suggested.

I slunk back to my desk, but I could just feel my hair sticking out in a weird, triangular formation. The smooth waves that I had attempted to create resembled more the shape of electrocuted strips of bacon. Five minutes later, I was back in the bathroom with a spray bottle and more bobby pins getting Lola back to normal.

Flat Twist: FAIL. BUT! I will not give up, I think the more that I do this, the steadier my hands will become and the better the twists will be. It actually is really helpful to master these because they use the same concept of “adding hair” into the twist. I think the main issue is that did my twists too large for the length of my hair. Next time I try this out (ON A WEEKEND, I GET IT!) I’ll go for smaller flat twists. For now, I’m going to let Lola have a break, so that her, my, and Fidelito’s trauma wears off.

Back in June I received and responded to a letter from a desperate transitioner, Worn Out in SF, who was so fed up with the process of going natural that she questioned not only her ability to rock her natural, but also if “going natural” was for everybody.

Well guess who is three months natural and LOVING IT! Seems like today she is less “Worn Out” and more “Wearin’ it Well”! I wanted to share with you this letter and photos that this formerly frustrated transitioner turned full-fledged, fellow natural sent over to Natural Selection.

Congratulations to MARCY who was selected at random as the winner of the Ouidad Double Detangler Comb.
Marcy, please send me an email with your mailing address so that we can get you detangling! Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway and thanks to Ouidad for sponsoring the giveaway!

A few weeks ago, I made a product suggestion to an African-American woman, encouraging her to try out Tresemme Naturals Conditioner. “But isn’t that for white people???” she responded. I found myself unsure of how to respond “… well, I’m black and it works for me, but technically speaking I suppose it is typically found in the ‘white section’ of the store”

Recently a couple of white friends with highly textured hair have asked me for product recommendations to help them with dryness and frizz. One said “I think I should try, you know, some products that are for black people because they always have a lot of moisture.” And so I made some recommendations of “black products”.

But why do we have this black and white view of the product world and why does it seem so unnatural to break out of it? Read more…

Today I head back to California after spending the past few days in my home state of Minnesota. Generally speaking, on a trip back home one spends a significant amount of time “rediscovering their roots”. However, this trip was less about my roots, and more about my 7-year-old sister Skya’s roots; literally the natural roots of her hair. One of my main objectives of this trip home was to apply my knowledge gained through my year+ of Natural Selection to help my sister [and mom] learn to care for Skya’s natural hair.

It’s been a very interesting process for me to not only to work with hair that is not my own, but also to remember the extremes of joy and pain that come along with being a young girl and having to have your hair done. In the end, what really matters, though, is that Skya is super happy with her natural hair!

Here’s a little video I put together about our natural journey together!

I rely on an army of duckbill clips and ouchless bands to help me section my hair off for styling purposes. Working with my hair in sections makes the entire process of styling – whether its twists, detangling, or wash’n’goes – go so much more smoothly. However, sometimes this smooth sailing encounters a snag, literally.

This was the first entire curl that I’ve ever had to cut from my head and it was really sad to have to do it. However, after 20 minutes of wrestling and pulling and unwinding, I just had to sacrifice this coil to the duckbill gods. Let’s just have a moment of e-silence here.

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